Now that the majority of Steelhead have spawned and are hopefully making their way back out to the mighty Pacific ocean to fatten up and return next year bigger, chromer, more powerful and more plentiful, let take a minute and recap on this very challenging past spring.
Fish were few and far between which meant more casts and less fish then years previous. The beautiful thing about being forced to work harder for fish is that you appreciate the ones that you get lucky enough to land even more.
Last year we could do no wrong, this year it seemed as though we could do not right. Before the commercial exploitation of aquatic species, I imagine one could expect many more fish much more often.
Which begs the question: "are we being good stewards?"
I personally think that collectively we could be doing a far better job and I hope that we will.
One solution of many:
Lets not fish for spawning steelhead.
May should be closed in areas known to be high grade spawning habitat. These fish need their calories to successfully procreate and make it back out to sea. They do not need to be waisting them on our photos. This doesn't mean closing the fishery in may. It means closing areas of good spawning habitat for Spring spawners such as Steelhead and Cutthroat Trout.
I would love to hear from you regarding the enhancement of our aquatic environments and the recreational fisheries that we all love.
Take care and talk soon,
Captain Quinn